65738 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 207 / Tuesday, October 27, 2015 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

Combined Notice of Filings 

Take notice that the Commission has 

received the following Natural Gas 

Pipeline Rate and Refund Report filings: 

Filings Instituting Proceedings 

Docket Numbers: PR15–13–001. 

Applicants: Pacific Gas and Electric 

Company. 

Description: Submits tariff filing per 

284.123(b)(1),: Amendment to SOC to be 

effective 1/1/2015; Filing Type: 1000. 

Filed Date: 10/15/15. 

Accession Number: 20151015–5304. 

Comments/Protests Due: 5 p.m. ET 

10/29/15. 

Docket Numbers: RP16–53–000. 

Applicants: Perryville Gas Storage 

LLC. 

Description: Section 4(d) Rate Filing: 

Perryville Gas Storage—August 2015 

Tariff Modifications to be effective 11/ 

16/2015. 

Filed Date: 10/15/15. 

Accession Number: 20151015–5147. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 10/27/15. 

Docket Numbers: RP16–54–000. 

Applicants: Equitrans, L.P. 

Description: Section 4(d) Rate Filing: 

AVC ADIT PLR to be effective 12/1/

2015. 

Filed Date: 10/15/15. 

Accession Number: 20151015–5209. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 10/27/15. 

Docket Numbers: RP16–55–000. 

Applicants: High Island Offshore 

System, L.L.C. 

Description: Compliance filing 

Administrative Refile to be effective 10/ 

15/2015. 

Filed Date: 10/15/15. 

Accession Number: 20151015–5217. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 10/27/15. 

Docket Numbers: RP16–56–000. 

Applicants: High Island Offshore 

System, L.L.C. 

Description: Tariff Cancellation: 

Cancellation to be effective 10/15/2015. 

Filed Date: 10/15/15. 

Accession Number: 20151015–5224. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 10/27/15. 

Docket Numbers: RP16–57–000. 

Applicants: Monroe Gas Storage 

Company, LLC. 

Description: Section 4(d) Rate Filing: 

Monroe Gas Storage—August 2015 

Tariff Modifications to be effective 11/ 

16/2015. 

Filed Date: 10/15/15. 

Accession Number: 20151015–5231. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 10/27/15. 

Docket Numbers: RP16–58–000. 

Applicants: Texas Eastern 

Transmission, LP. 

Description: Compliance filing TETLP 

OFO 2015 Penalty Disbursement Report. 

Filed Date: 10/15/15. 

Accession Number: 20151015–5254. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 10/23/15. 

Any person desiring to intervene or 

protest in any of the above proceedings 

must file in accordance with Rules 211 

and 214 of the Commission’s 

Regulations (18 CFR 385.211 and 

385.214) on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern 

time on the specified date(s). Protests 

may be considered, but intervention is 

necessary to become a party to the 

proceeding. 

Filings in Existing Proceedings 

Docket Numbers: RP08–426–019. 

Applicants: El Paso Natural Gas 

Company, L.L.C. 

Description: El Paso Natural Gas 

Company, L.L.C. submits tariff filing per 

154.501: Refund Report. 

Filed Date: 9/30/15. 

Accession Number: 20150930–5177. 

Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 10/22/15. 

Any person desiring to protest in any 

of the above proceedings must file in 

accordance with Rule 211 of the 

Commission’s Regulations (18 CFR 

385.211) on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern 

time on the specified comment date. 

The filings are accessible in the 

Commission’s eLibrary system by 

clicking on the links or querying the 

docket number. 

eFiling is encouraged. More detailed 

information relating to filing 

requirements, interventions, protests, 

service, and qualifying facilities filings 

can be found at: http://www.ferc.gov/

docs-filing/efiling/filing-req.pdf. For 

other information, call (866) 208–3676 

(toll free). For TTY, call (202) 502–8659. 

Dated: October 19, 2015. 

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–27181 Filed 10–26–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9936–24–OSWER] 

Comprehensive Environmental 

Response, Compensation and Liability 

Act (CERCLA) or Superfund, Section 

128(a); Notice of Grant Funding 

Guidance for State and Tribal 

Response Programs for FY2016 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) will accept requests, from 

December 1, 2015 through January 31, 

2016, for grants to establish and 

enhance State and Tribal Response 

Programs. This notice provides 

guidance on eligibility for funding, use 

of funding, grant mechanisms and 

process for awarding funding, the 

allocation system for distribution of 

funding, and terms and reporting under 

these grants. EPA has consulted with 

state and tribal officials in developing 

this guidance. 

The primary goal of this funding is to 

ensure that state and tribal response 

programs include, or are taking 

reasonable steps to include, certain 

elements of a response program and 

establishing a public record. Another 

goal is to provide funding for other 

activities that increase the number of 

response actions conducted or overseen 

by a state or tribal response program. 

This funding is not intended to supplant 

current state or tribal funding for their 

response programs. Instead, it is to 

supplement their funding to increase 

their response capacity. 

For fiscal year 2016, EPA will 

consider funding requests up to a 

maximum of $1.0 million per state or 

tribe. Subject to the availability of 

funds, EPA regional personnel will be 

available to provide technical assistance 

to states and tribes as they apply for and 

carry out these grants. 

DATES: This action is effective as of 

December 1, 2015. EPA expects to make 

non-competitive grant awards to states 

and tribes which apply during fiscal 

year 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Mailing addresses for EPA 

Regional Offices and EPA Headquarters 

can be found at www.epa.gov/ 

brownfields and at the end of this 

Notice. Funding requests may be 

submitted electronically to the EPA 

Regional Offices. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and 

Emergency Response, Office of 

Brownfields and Land Revitalization, 

(202) 566–2745 or the applicable EPA 

Regional Office listed at the end this 

Notice. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

Section 128(a) of the Comprehensive 

Environmental Response, 

Compensation, and Liability Act 

(CERCLA), as amended, authorizes a 

noncompetitive $50 million grant 

program to establish and enhance 


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2The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ is defined in this 

document as it is defined in CERCLA section 

101(36). Intertribal consortia, as defined in the 

Federal Register Notice at 67 FR 67181, Nov. 4, 

2002, are also eligible for funding under CERCLA 

section 128(a). 

3Categorical grants are issued by the U.S. 

Congress to fund state and local governments for 

narrowly defined purposes. 

4The Agency may waive any provision of this 

guidance that is not required by statute, regulation, 

Executive Order or overriding Agency policies. 

5Section 128(a) was added to CERCLA in 2002 by 

the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields 

Revitalization Act (Brownfield Amendments). 

6States or tribes that are parties to VRP MOAs 

and that maintain and make available a public 

record are automatically eligible for section 128(a) 

funding. 

and tribal 2 response programs. CERCLA 

section 128(a) response program grants 

are funded with categorical 3 State and 

Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) 

appropriations. Section 128(a) 

cooperative agreements are awarded and 

administered by the EPA regional 

offices. Generally, these response 

programs address the assessment, 

cleanup, and redevelopment of 

brownfields sites and other sites with 

actual or perceived contamination. This 

document provides guidance that will 

enable states and tribes to apply for and 

use Fiscal Year 2016 section 128(a) 

funds.4

The Catalogue of Federal Domestic 

Assistance entry for the section 128(a) 

State and Tribal Response Program 

cooperative agreements is 66.817. This 

grant program is eligible to be included 

in state and tribal Performance 

Partnership Grants under 40 CFR Part 

35 Subparts A and B, with the exception 

of funds used to capitalize a revolving 

loan fund for brownfield remediation 

under section 104(k)(3); or purchase 

environmental insurance or developing 

a risk sharing pool, an indemnity pool, 

or insurance mechanism to provide 

financing for response actions under a 

State or Tribal response program. 

Requests for funding will be accepted 

from December 1, 2015 through January 

31, 2016. Requests EPA receives after 

January 31, 2016 will not be considered 

for FY2016 funding. Information that 

must be submitted with the funding 

request is listed in Section IX of this 

guidance. States or tribes that do not 

submit the request in the appropriate 

manner may forfeit their ability to 

receive funds. First time requestors are 

strongly encouraged to contact their 

Regional EPA Brownfields contacts, 

listed at the end of this guidance, prior 

to submitting their funding request. EPA 

will consider funding requests up to a 

maximum of $1.0 million per state or 

tribe for FY2016. 

Requests submitted by the January 31, 

2016 request deadline are preliminary; 

final cooperative agreement work plans 

and budgets will be negotiated with the 

regional offices once final funding 

allocation determinations are made. As 

in previous years, EPA will place 

special emphasis on reviewing a 

cooperative agreement recipient’s use of 

prior section 128(a) funding in making 

allocation decisions and unexpended 

balances are subject to 40 CFR 35.118 

and 40 CFR 35.518 to the extent 

consistent with this guidance. Also, 

EPA will prioritize funding for 

recipients establishing their response 

programs. 

States and tribes requesting funds are 

required to provide a Dun and 

Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering 

System (DUNS) number with their 

cooperative agreement’s final package. 

For more information, please go to 

www.grants.gov. 

II. Background 

State and tribal response programs 

oversee assessment and cleanup 

activities at brownfields sites across the 

country. The depth and breadth of state 

and tribal response programs vary. 

Some focus on CERCLA related 

activities, while others are multifaceted, addressing sites regulated by 

both CERCLA and the Resource 

Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). 

Many state programs also offer 

accompanying financial incentive 

programs to spur cleanup and 

redevelopment. In enacting CERCLA 

section 128(a),5 Congress recognized the 

accomplishments of state and tribal 

response programs in cleaning up and 

redeveloping brownfields sites. Section 

128(a) provides EPA with an 

opportunity to strengthen its 

partnership with states and tribes, and 

recognizes the response programs’ 

critical role in overseeing cleanups 

enrolled in their response programs. 

This funding is intended for those 

states and tribes that have the 

management and administrative 

capacity within their government 

required to administer a federal grant. 

The primary goal of this funding is to 

ensure that state and tribal response 

programs include, or are taking 

reasonable steps to include, certain 

elements of an environmental response 

program and that the response program 

establishes and maintains a public 

record of sites addressed. 

Subject to the availability of funds, 

EPA regional personnel will be available 

to provide technical assistance to states 

and tribes as they apply for and carry 

out section 128(a) cooperative 

agreements. 

III. Eligibility For Funding 

To be eligible for funding under 

CERCLA section 128(a), a state or tribe 

must: 

1. Demonstrate that its response 

program includes, or is taking 

reasonable steps to include, the four 

elements of a response program 

described in Section V of this guidance; 

or be a party to a voluntary response 

program Memorandum of Agreement 

(VRP MOA) 6 with EPA; AND 

2. maintain and make available to the 

public a record of sites at which 

response actions have been completed 

in the previous year and are planned to 

be addressed in the upcoming year, see 

CERCLA section 128(b)(1)(C). 

IV. Matching Funds/Cost-Share 

States and tribes are not required to 

provide matching funds for cooperative 

agreements awarded under section 

128(a), with the exception of section 

128(a) funds a state or tribe uses to 

capitalize a Brownfields Revolving Loan 

Fund (RLF). Section 128(a) funds uses 

to capitalize a RLF must be operated in 

accordance with CERCLA section 

104(k)(3). There is a 20% cost share 

requirement for 128(a) funds used to 

capitalize a RLF. 

V. The Four Elements—Section 128(a) 

Section 128(a) recipients that do not 

have a VRP MOA with EPA must 

demonstrate that their response program 

includes, or is taking reasonable steps to 

include, the four elements. 

Achievement of the four elements 

should be viewed as a priority. Section 

128(a) authorizes funding for activities 

necessary to establish and enhance the 

four elements, and to establish and 

maintain the public record requirement. 

The four elements of a response 

program are described below: 

1. Timely survey and inventory of 

brownfields sites in state or tribal land. 

EPA’s goal in funding activities under 

this element is to enable the state or 

tribe to establish or enhance a system or 

process that will provide a reasonable 

estimate of the number, likely locations, 

and the general characteristics of 

brownfields sites in their state or tribal 

lands. EPA recognizes the varied scope 

of state and tribal response programs 

and will not require states and tribes to 

develop a ‘‘list’’ of brownfields sites. 

However, at a minimum, the state or 

tribe should develop and/or maintain a 

system or process that can provide a 

reasonable estimate of the number, 


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7States and tribes establishing this element may 

find useful information on public participation on 

EPA’s community involvement Web site at http:// 

www.epa.gov/superfund/community/policies.htm. 

8For further information on data quality 

requirements for latitude and longitude 

information, please see EPA’s data standards Web 

site available at http://iaspub.epa.gov/sorlinternet/ 

registry/datastds/findadatastandard/epaapproved/ 

latitudelongitude. 

likely location, and general 

characteristics of brownfields sites 

within their state or tribal lands. 

Inventories should evolve to a 

prioritization of sites based on 

community needs, planning priorities, 

and protection of human health and the 

environment. Inventories should be 

developed in direct coordination with 

communities, and particular attention 

should focus on those communities 

with limited capacity to compete for, 

and manage a competitive brownfield 

assessment, revolving loan, or cleanup 

cooperative agreement. 

Given funding limitations, EPA will 

negotiate work plans with states and 

tribes to achieve this goal efficiently and 

effectively, and within a realistic time 

frame. For example, many of EPA’s 

Brownfields Assessment cooperative 

agreement recipients conduct 

inventories of brownfields sites in their 

communities or jurisdictions. EPA 

encourages states and tribes to work 

with these cooperative agreement 

recipients to obtain the information that 

they have gathered and include it in 

their survey and inventory. 

2. Oversight and enforcement 

authorities or other mechanisms and 

resources. EPA’s goal in funding 

activities under this element is to have 

state and tribal response programs that 

include oversight and enforcement 

authorities or other mechanisms, and 

resources that are adequate to ensure 

that: 

a. A response action will protect 

human health and the environment, and 

be conducted in accordance with 

applicable laws; and 

b. the state or tribe will complete the 

necessary response activities if the 

person conducting the response fails to 

complete the necessary response (this 

includes operation and maintenance 

and/or long-term monitoring activities). 

3. Mechanisms and resources to 

provide meaningful opportunities for 

public participation.7 EPA’s goal in 

funding activities under this element is 

to have states and tribes include in their 

response program mechanisms and 

resources for meaningful public 

participation, at the local level, 

including, at a minimum: 

a. Public access to documents and 

related materials that a state, tribe, or 

party conducting the cleanup is relying 

on or developing to make cleanup 

decisions or conduct site activities; 

b. prior notice and opportunity for 

meaningful public comment on cleanup 

plans and site activities, including the 

input into the prioritization of sites; and 

c. a mechanism by which a person 

who is, or may be, affected by a release 

or threatened release of a hazardous 

substance, pollutant, or contaminant at 

a brownfields site—located in the 

community in which the person works 

or resides—may request that a site 

assessment be conducted. The 

appropriate state or tribal official must 

consider this request and appropriately 

respond. 

4. Mechanisms for approval of a 

cleanup plan, and verification and 

certification that cleanup is complete. 

EPA’s goal in funding activities under 

this element is to have states and tribes 

include in their response program 

mechanisms to approve cleanup plans 

and to verify that response actions are 

complete, including a requirement for 

certification or similar documentation 

from the state, the tribe, or a licensed 

site professional that the response 

action is complete. Written approval by 

a state or tribal response program 

official of a proposed cleanup plan is an 

example of an approval mechanism. 

VI. Public Record Requirement 

In order to be eligible for section 

128(a) funding, states and tribes 

(including those with MOAs) must 

establish and maintain a public record 

system, as described below. The public 

record should be made available to 

provide a mechanism for meaningful 

public participation (refer to Section V.3 

above). Specifically, under section 

128(b)(1)(C), states and tribes must: 

1. Maintain and update, at least 

annually or more often as appropriate, 

a record that includes the name and 

location of sites at which response 

actions have been completed during the 

previous year; 

2. maintain and update, at least 

annually or more often as appropriate, 

a record that includes the name and 

location of sites at which response 

actions are planned in the next year; 

and 

3. identify in the public record 

whether or not the site, upon 

completion of the response action, will 

be suitable for unrestricted use. If not, 

the public record must identify the 

institutional controls relied on in the 

remedy and include relevant 

information concerning the entity that 

will be responsible for oversight, 

monitoring, and/or maintenance of the 

institutional and engineering controls; 

and how the responsible entity is 

implementing those activities (see 

Section VI.C). 

Section 128(a) funds may be used to 

maintain and make available a public 

record system that meets the 

requirements discussed above. 

A. Distinguishing the ‘‘Survey and 

Inventory’’ Element From the ‘‘Public 

Record’’ 

It is important to note that the public 

record requirement differs from the 

‘‘timely survey and inventory’’ element 

described in the ‘‘Four Elements’’ 

section above. The public record 

addresses sites at which response 

actions have been completed in the 

previous year or are planned in the 

upcoming year. In contrast, the ‘‘timely 

survey and inventory’’ element, 

described above, refers to identifying 

brownfields sites regardless of planned 

or completed actions at the site. 

B. Making the Public Record Easily 

Accessible 

EPA’s goal is to enable states and 

tribes to make the public record and 

other information, such as information 

from the ‘‘survey and inventory’’ 

element, easily accessible. For this 

reason, EPA will allow states and tribes 

to use section 128(a) funding to make 

the public record, as well as other 

information, such as information from 

the ‘‘survey and inventory’’ element, 

available to the public via the internet 

or other means. For example, the 

Agency would support funding state 

and tribal efforts to include detailed 

location information in the public 

record such as the street address, and 

latitude and longitude information for 

each site.8 States and tribes should 

ensure that all affected communities 

have appropriate access to the public 

record by making it available on-line, in 

print at libraries, or at other community 

gathering places. 

In an effort to reduce cooperative 

agreement reporting requirements and 

increase public access to the public 

record, EPA encourages states and tribes 

to place their public record on the 

internet. If a state or tribe places the 

public record on the internet, maintains 

the substantive requirements of the 

public record, and provides EPA with 

the link to that site, EPA will, for 

purposes of cooperative agreement 

funding only, deem the public record 

reporting requirement met. 

C. Long-Term Maintenance of the Public 

Record 

EPA encourages states and tribes to 

maintain public record information, 


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9States and tribes may find useful information on 

institutional controls on the EPA’s institutional 

controls Web site at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/ 

policy/ic/index.htm. 

10EPA expects states and tribes will familiarize 

themselves with US EPA’s brownfields technical 

assistance opportunities for brownfields 

communities. For more information on technical 

assistance opportunities, please visit: http:// 

www.epa.gov/brownfields/tools/index.htm. 

11For more information about EPA’s Brownfields 

Environmental Workforce Development and Job 

Training Program, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/ 

brownfields/job.htm. 

12For more information about EPA’s Climate 

Adaptation Plan, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/ 

climatechange/impacts-adaptation/fedprograms.html. 

including data on institutional controls, 

on a long term basis (more than one 

year) for sites at which a response action 

has been completed. Subject to EPA 

regional office approval, states or tribes 

may include development and operation 

of systems that ensure long term 

maintenance of the public record, 

including information on institutional 

controls (such as ensuring the entity 

responsible for oversight, monitoring, 

and/or maintenance of the institutional 

and engineering controls is 

implementing those activities) in their 

work plans.9

VII. Use of Funding 

A. Overview 

Section 128(a)(1)(B) describes the 

eligible uses of cooperative agreement 

funds by states and tribes. In general, a 

state or tribe may use funding to 

‘‘establish or enhance’’ its response 

program. Specifically, a state or tribe 

may use cooperative agreement funds to 

build response programs that includes 

the four elements outline in section 

128(a)(2). Eligible activities include, but 

are not limited to, the following: 

• Developing legislation, regulations, 

procedures, ordinances, guidance, etc. 

that establish or enhance the 

administrative and legal structure of a 

response program; 

• establishing and maintaining the 

required public record described in 

Section VI of this guidance; 

• operation, maintenance and longterm monitoring of institutional controls 

and engineering controls; 

• conducting site-specific activities, 

such as assessment or cleanup, provided 

such activities establish and/or enhance 

the response program and are tied to the 

four elements. In addition to the 

requirement under CERCLA section 

128(a)(2)(C)(ii) to provide for public 

comment on cleanup plans and site 

activities, EPA strongly encourages 

states and tribes to seek public input 

regarding the priority of sites to be 

addressed and solicit input from local 

communities, especially potential 

environmental justice communities, 

communities with a health risk related 

to exposure to hazardous waste or other 

public health concerns, economically 

disadvantaged or remote areas, and 

communities with limited experience 

working with government agencies. EPA 

will not provide section 128(a) funds 

solely for assessment or cleanup of 

specific brownfields sites; site-specific 

activities must be part of an overall 

section 128(a) work plan that includes 

funding for other activities that establish 

or enhance the four elements; 

• capitalizing a revolving loan fund 

(RLF) for brownfields cleanup under 

CERCLA section 104(k)(3). These RLFs 

are subject to the same statutory 

requirements and cooperative agreement 

terms and conditions applicable to RLFs 

awarded under section 104(k)(3). 

Requirements include a 20 percent 

match (can be in the form of a 

contribution of money, labor, material, 

or services from a non-federal source) 

on the amount of section 128(a) funds 

used for the RLF, a prohibition on using 

EPA cooperative agreement funds for 

administrative costs relating to the RLF, 

and a prohibition on using RLF loans or 

subgrants for response costs at a site for 

which the recipient may be potentially 

liable under section 107 of CERCLA. 

Other prohibitions contained in 

CERCLA section 104(k)(4) also apply; 

and 

• purchasing environmental 

insurance or developing a risk-sharing 

pool, indemnity pool, or insurance 

mechanism to provide financing for 

response actions under a state or tribal 

response program. 

B. Uses Related to ‘‘Establishing’’ a 

State or Tribal Response Program 

Under CERCLA section 128(a), 

‘‘establish’’ includes activities necessary 

to build the foundation for the four 

elements of a state or tribal response 

program and the public record 

requirement. For example, a state or 

tribal response program may use section 

128(a) funds to develop regulations, 

ordinances, procedures, guidance, and a 

public record. 

C. Uses Related to ‘‘Enhancing’’ a State 

or Tribal Response Program 

Under CERCLA section 128(a), 

‘‘enhance’’ is related to activities that 

add to or improve a state or tribal 

response program or increase the 

number of sites at which response 

actions are conducted under a state or 

tribal response program. 

The exact ‘‘enhancement’’ uses that 

may be allowable depend upon the 

work plan negotiated between the EPA 

regional office and the state or tribe. For 

example, regional offices and states or 

tribes may agree that section 128(a) 

funds may be used for outreach and 

training directly related to increasing 

awareness of its response program, and 

improving the skills of program staff. It 

may also include developing better 

coordination and understanding of other 

state response programs, e.g., RCRA or 

Underground Storage Tanks (USTs). As 

another example, states and tribal 

response programs enhancement 

activities can include outreach to local 

communities (e.g., distressed, 

environmental justice, rural, tribal, etc.) 

to increase their awareness about 

brownfields, building a sustainable 

brownfields program, federal 

brownfields technical assistance 

opportunities 10 (e.g., holding 

workshops to assist communities to 

apply for federal Brownfields grant 

funding), and knowledge regarding the 

importance of monitoring engineering 

and institutional controls. Additionally, 

state and tribal response programs 

enhancement activities can include 

facilitating the participation of the state 

and local agencies (e.g., transportation, 

water, other infrastructure) in 

implementation of brownfields projects. 

Another example of program 

enhancement activities can be for states 

and tribes to assist local communities to 

collaborate with local workforce 

development entities or Brownfields job 

training recipients on the assessment 

and cleanup of brownfield sites.11 Other 

‘‘enhancement’’ uses may be allowable 

as well. 

Note: EPA anticipates states and tribes 

will work with their EPA Brownfields 

Area-Wide Planning, Cleanup, and 

Revolving Loan Fund recipients to 

incorporate changing climate conditions 

in their reuse plans and clean up 

remedies, as appropriate.12

D. Uses Related to Site-Specific 

Activities 

1. Eligible Uses of Funds for SiteSpecific Activities 

Site-specific assessment and cleanup 

activities should establish and/or 

enhance the response program and be 

tied to the four elements. Site-specific 

assessments and cleanups can be both 

eligible and allowable if the activities is 

included in the work plan negotiated 

between the EPA regional office and the 

state or tribe, but activities must comply 

with all applicable laws and are subject 

to the following restrictions: 

a. Section 128(a) funds can only be 

used for assessments or cleanups at sites 

that meet the definition of a brownfields 

site at CERCLA section 101(39). EPA 


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13Oversight of assessment and cleanup activities 

performed by responsible parties (other than the 

state or tribe) does not count toward the 50% limit. 

encourages states and tribes to use sitespecific funding to perform assessment 

(e.g., phase I, phase II, supplemental 

assessments and cleanup planning) and 

cleanup activities that will lead more 

quickly to the reuse and redevelopment 

of sites, particularly sites located in 

distressed, environmental justice, rural 

or tribal communities. Furthermore, 

states and tribes that perform sitespecific activities should plan to 

directly engage with and involve the 

targeted community in the project. For 

example, a Community Relations Plan 

(CRP) could be developed to provide 

reasonable notice to the public about a 

planned cleanup, as well as 

opportunities for the public to comment 

on the cleanup. States and tribes should 

work towards securing additional 

funding for site-specific activities by 

leveraging resources from other sources 

such as businesses, non-profit 

organizations, education and training 

providers, and/or federal, state, tribal, 

and local governments; 

b. absent EPA approval, no more than 

$200,000 per site assessment can be 

funded with section 128(a) funds, and 

no more than $200,000 per site cleanup 

can be funded with section 128(a) 

funds; 

c. absent EPA approval, the state/tribe 

may not use funds awarded under this 

agreement to assess and/or clean up 

sites owned or operated by the recipient 

or held in trust by the United States 

Government for the recipient; and 

d. assessments and cleanups cannot 

be conducted at sites where the state/ 

tribe is a potentially responsible party 

pursuant to CERCLA section 107, 

except: 

• At brownfields sites contaminated 

by a controlled substance as defined in 

CERCLA section 101(39)(D)(ii)(I); or 

• when the recipient would satisfy all 

of the elements set forth in CERCLA 

section 101(40) to qualify as a bona fide 

prospective purchaser except that the 

date of acquisition of the property was 

on or before January 11, 2002. 

Subgrants cannot be provided to entities 

that may be potentially responsible 

parties (pursuant to CERCLA section 

107) at the site for which the assessment 

or cleanup activities are proposed to be 

conducted, except: 

1. At brownfields sites contaminated 

by a controlled substance as defined in 

CERCLA section 101(39)(D)(ii)(I); or 

2. when the recipient would satisfy all 

of the elements set forth in CERCLA 

section 101(40) to qualify as a bona fide 

prospective purchaser except that the 

date of acquisition of the property was 

on or before January 11, 2002. 

2. Limitations on the Amount of Funds 

Used for Site-Specific Activities and 

Waiver Process 

States and tribes may use section 

128(a) funds for site-specific activities 

that improve state or tribal capacity but 

the amount recipients may request for 

site-specific assessments and cleanups 

may not exceed 50% of the total amount 

of funding.13 In order to exceed the 50% 

site-specific funding amount a state or 

tribe must submit a waiver request. In 

order for EPA to consider a waiver, the 

total amount of the site-specific request 

may not exceed the recipient’s total 

funding level for the previous year. The 

funding request must include a brief 

justification describing the reason(s) for 

spending more than 50% of an annual 

allocation on site-specific activities. An 

applicant, when requesting a waiver, 

must include the following information 

in the written justification: 

• Total amount requested for sitespecific activities; 

• percentage of the site-specific 

activities (assuming waiver is approved) 

in the total budget; 

• site specific activities that will be 

covered by this funding. If known, 

provide site specific information and 

describe how work on each site 

contributes to the development or 

enhancement of your state/tribal site 

response program. EPA recognizes the 

role of response programs to develop 

and provide capacity in distressed, 

environmental justice, rural or tribal 

communities, and encourages 

prioritization for site-specific activities 

in those communities. Further explain 

how the community will be (or has 

been) involved in prioritization of site 

work and especially those sites where 

there is a potential or known significant 

environmental impact to the 

community; 

• an explanation of how this shift in 

funding will not negatively impact the 

core programmatic capacity (i.e., the 

ability to establish/enhance four 

elements of a response program) and 

how related activities will be 

maintained in spite of an increase in 

site-specific work. Recipients must 

demonstrate that they have adequate 

funding from other sources to effectively 

carry out work on the four elements for 

EPA to grant a waiver of the 50% limit 

on using 128(a) funds for site-specific 

activities; 

• an explanation as to whether the 

sites to be addressed are those for which 

the affected community(ies) has 

requested work be conducted (refer to 

Section VII.A Overview of Funding for 

more information). 

EPA Headquarters will approve waivers 

based on the information in the 

justification and other information 

available to the Agency. The EPA will 

inform recipients whether the waiver is 

approved. 

3. Uses Related to Site-Specific 

Activities at Petroleum Brownfields 

Sites 

States and tribes may use section 

128(a) funds for activities that establish 

and enhance response programs 

addressing petroleum brownfield sites. 

Subject to the restrictions listed above 

(see Section VII.D.1) for all site-specific 

activities, the costs of site-specific 

assessments and cleanup activities at 

petroleum contaminated brownfields 

sites, defined at CERCLA section 

101(39)(D)(ii)(II), are both eligible and 

allowable if the activity is included in 

the work plan negotiated between the 

EPA regional office and the state or 

tribe. Section 128(a) funds used to 

capitalize a Brownfields RLF may be 

used at brownfields sites contaminated 

by petroleum to the extent allowed 

under CERCLA section 104(k)(3). 

4. Additional Examples of Eligible SiteSpecific Activities 

Other eligible uses of funds for sitespecific related include, but are not 

limited to, the following activities: 

• Technical assistance to federal 

brownfields cooperative agreement 

recipients; 

• development and/or review of 

quality assurance project plans (QAPPs); 

and 

• entering data into the Assessment 

Cleanup and Redevelopment Exchange 

System (ACRES) database 

E. Uses Related to Activities at ‘‘NonBrownfields’’ Sites 

Costs incurred for activities at nonbrownfields sites, e.g., oversight, may be 

eligible and allowable if such activities 

are included in the state’s or tribe’s 

work plan. Other uses not specifically 

referenced in this guidance may also be 

eligible and allowable. Recipients 

should consult with their regional state 

or tribal contact for additional guidance. 

Direct assessment and cleanup activities 

may only be conducted on eligible 

brownfields sites, as defined in CERCLA 

section 101(39). 

VIII. General Programmatic Guidelines 

for 128(a) Grant Funding Requests 

Funding authorized under CERCLA 

section 128(a) is awarded through a 


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14A cooperative agreement is an agreement to a 

state/tribe that includes substantial involvement by 

EPA on activities described in the work plan which 

may include technical assistance, collaboration on 

program priorities, etc. 

15EPA’s regulations will take effect December 26, 

2014 (2 CFR 200.110). 

16For purposes of 128(a) funding, the state’s or 

tribe’s public record applies to that state’s or tribe’s 

response program(s) that utilized the section 128(a) 

funding. 

cooperative agreement 14 between EPA 

and a state or a tribe. The program 

administers cooperative agreements 

under the Uniform Administrative 

Requirements, Cost Principles and 

Audit requirements for Federal Awards 

regulations for all entity types including 

states, tribes, and local governments 

found in the Code of Federal 

Regulations at 2 CFR Part 200 and any 

applicable EPA regulations in Title 2 

CFR Subtitle B—Federal Agency 

Regulations for Grants and Agreements 

Chapter 15 15 as well as applicable 

provisions of 40 CFR Part 35 Subparts 

A and B. Under these regulations, the 

cooperative agreement recipient for 

section 128(a) grant program is the 

government to which a cooperative 

agreement is awarded and which is 

accountable for the use of the funds 

provided. The cooperative agreement 

recipient is the entire legal entity even 

if only a particular component of the 

entity is designated in the cooperative 

agreement award document. Further, 

unexpended balances of cooperative 

agreement funds are subject to 40 CFR 

35.118 and 40 CFR 35.518. EPA 

allocates funds to state and tribal 

response programs consistent with 40 

CFR 35.420 and 40 CFR 35.737. 

A. One Application per State or Tribe 

Subject to the availability of funds, 

EPA regional offices will negotiate and 

enter into section 128(a) cooperative 

agreements with eligible and interested 

states or tribes. EPA will accept only one 

application from each eligible state or 

tribe. 

B. Maximum Funding Request 

For Fiscal Year 2016, EPA will 

consider funding requests up to a 

maximum of $1.0 million per state or 

tribe. Please note the CERCLA 128(a) 

program’s annual budget has remained 

relatively the same since 2003 while 

demand has increased over time. Due to 

the increasing number of entities 

requesting funding, it is likely that the 

FY16 states and tribal individual 

funding amounts will be less than the 

FY15 individual funding amounts. 

C. Define the State or Tribal Response 

Program 

States and tribes must define in their 

work plan the ‘‘section 128(a) response 

program(s)’’ to which the funds will be 

applied, and may designate a 

component of the state or tribe that will 

be EPA’s primary point of contact for 

negotiations on their proposed work 

plan. When EPA funds the section 

128(a) cooperative agreement, states and 

tribes may distribute these funds among 

the appropriate state and tribal agencies 

that are part of the section 128(a) 

response program. This distribution 

must be clearly outlined in their annual 

work plan. 

D. Separate Cooperative Agreements for 

the Capitalization of RLFs Using Section 

128(a) Funds 

If a portion of the section 128(a) grant 

funds requested will be used to 

capitalize a revolving loan fund for 

cleanup, pursuant to section 104(k)(3), 

two separate cooperative agreements 

must be awarded, i.e., one for the RLF 

and one for non-RLF uses. States and 

tribes may, however, submit one initial 

request for funding, delineating the RLF 

as a proposed use. Section 128(a) funds 

used to capitalize an RLF are not 

eligible for inclusion into a Performance 

Partnership Grant (PPG). 

E. Authority To Manage a Revolving 

Loan Fund Program 

If a state or tribe chooses to use its 

section 128(a) funds to capitalize a 

revolving loan fund program, the state 

or tribe must have the lead authority to 

manage the program, e.g., hold loans, 

make loans, enter into loan agreements, 

collect repayment, access and secure the 

site in event of an emergency or loan 

default. If the agency/department listed 

as the point of contact for the section 

128(a) cooperative agreement does not 

have this authority, it must be able to 

demonstrate that another state or tribal 

agency does have the authority to 

manage the RLF and is willing to do so. 

F. Section 128(a) Cooperative 

Agreements Can Be Part of a 

Performance Partnership Grant (PPG) 

States and tribes may include section 

128(a) cooperative agreements in their 

PPG 69 FR 51,756 (2004). Section 128(a) 

funds used to capitalize an RLF or 

purchase environmental insurance or 

develop a risk sharing pool, an 

indemnity pool, or insurance 

mechanism to provide financing for 

response actions under a state or tribal 

response program are not eligible for 

inclusion in the PPG. 

G. Project Period 

EPA regional offices will determine 

the project period for each cooperative 

agreement. These may be for multiple 

years depending on the regional office’s 

cooperative agreement policies. Each 

cooperative agreement must have an 

annual budget period tied to an annual 

work plan. While not prohibited, preaward costs are subject to 40 CFR 35.113 

and 40 CFR 35.513. 

H. Demonstrating the Four Elements 

As part of the annual work plan 

negotiation process, states or tribes that 

do not have VRP MOAs must 

demonstrate that their program 

includes, or is taking reasonable steps to 

include, the four elements described in 

Section V. EPA will not fund, in future 

years, state or tribal response program 

annual work plans if EPA determines 

that these elements are not met or 

reasonable progress is not being made. 

EPA may base this determination on the 

information the state or tribe provides to 

support its work plan, on progress 

reports, or on EPA’s review of the state 

or tribal response program. 

I. Establishing and Maintaining the 

Public Record 

Prior to funding a state’s or tribe’s 

annual work plan, EPA regional offices 

will verify and document that a public 

record, as described in Section VI and 

below, exists and is being maintained.16

Specifically for: 

• states or tribes that received initial 

funding prior to FY15: Requests for 

FY16 funds will not be accepted from 

states or tribes that fail to demonstrate, 

by the January 31, 2016 request 

deadline, that they established and are 

maintaining a public record. (Note, this 

would potentially impact any state or 

tribe that had a term and condition 

placed on their FY15 cooperative 

agreement that prohibited drawdown of 

FY15 funds prior to meeting public 

record requirement). States or tribes in 

this situation will not be prevented from 

drawing down their prior year funds 

once the public record requirement is 

met; and 

• states or tribes that received initial 

funding in FY15: By the time of the 

actual FY16 award, the state or tribe 

must demonstrate that they established 

and maintained the public record (those 

states and tribes that do not meet this 

requirement will have a term and 

condition placed on their FY16 

cooperative agreement that prohibits the 

drawdown of FY16 funds until the 

public record requirement is met). 

J. Demonstration of Significant 

Utilization of Prior Years’ Funding 

States and tribes should be aware that 

EPA and its Congressional 

appropriations committees place 


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significant emphasis on the utilization 

of prior years’ funding. Unused funds 

prior to FY15 will be considered in the 

allocation process. Existing balances of 

cooperative agreement funds as 

reflected in EPA’s Financial Data 

Warehouse could support an allocation 

amount below a recipient’s request for 

funding or, if appropriate deobligation 

and reallocation by EPA Regions as 

provided for in 40 CFR 35.118 and 40 

CFR 35.518. 

EPA Regional staff will review EPA’s 

Financial Database Warehouse to 

identify the amount of remaining prior 

year(s) funds. The requestor should 

work, as early as possible, with both 

their own finance department, and with 

their Regional Project Officer to 

reconcile any discrepancy between the 

amount of unspent funds showing in 

EPA’s system, and the amount reflected 

in the recipient’s records. The recipient 

should obtain concurrence from the 

Region on the amount of unspent funds 

requiring justification by the deadline 

for this request for funding. 

K. Allocation System and Process for 

Distribution of Funds 

After the January 31, 2016, request 

deadline, EPA’s Regional Offices will 

submit summaries of state and tribal 

requests to EPA Headquarters. Before 

submitting requests to EPA 

Headquarters, regional offices may take 

into account additional factors when 

determining recommended allocation 

amounts. Such factors include, but are 

not limited to, the depth and breadth of 

the state or tribal program; scope of the 

perceived need for the funding, e.g., size 

of state or tribal jurisdiction or the 

proposed work plan balanced against 

capacity of the program, amount of 

current year funding, funds remaining 

from prior years, etc. 

After receipt of the regional 

recommendations, EPA Headquarters 

will consolidate requests and make 

decisions on the final funding 

allocations. 

EPA regional offices will work with 

interested states and tribes to develop 

their preliminary work plans and 

funding requests. Final cooperative 

agreement work plans and budgets will 

be negotiated with the regional office 

once final allocation determinations are 

made. Please refer to process flow chart 

below (dates are estimates and subject to 

change): 

IX. Information To Be Submitted With 

the Funding Request 

A. Summary of Planned Use of FY16 

Funding 

All states and tribes requesting FY16 

funds must submit (to their regional 

brownfields contact) a summary of the 

planned use of the funds with 

associated dollar amounts. Please 

provide the request in the chart below. 

The amount of funding requested 

should be an amount that can be 

reasonably spent in one year. It is likely 

that the FY16 state and tribal individual 

funding amounts will be less than the 

FY15 individual funding amounts. The 

requestor should work, as early as 

possible, with their EPA Regional 

Program contact to ensure that the 

funding amount requested and related 

activities are reasonable. 

B. Demonstration of Significant 

Utilization of Prior Years’ Funding 

States and tribes that received section 

128(a) funds prior to FY15 must provide 

the amount of the prior years’ funding 

including funds that recipients have not 

received in payments (i.e., funds EPA 

has obligated for grants that remain in 

EPA’s Financial Data Warehouse). EPA 

will take into account these funds in the 

allocation process when determining 

the recipient’s programmatic needs 

under 40 CFR 35.420 and 40 CFR 

35.737. The recipient should include a 

detailed explanation and justification of 

prior year funds that remain in EPA’s 

Financial Data Warehouse as unspent 

balances. The recipient should obtain 

concurrence from the Region on the 

amount of unspent funds requiring 

explanation by the January 31, 2016 

deadlines for submitting funding 

requests. 

C. Optional: Explanation of Overall 

Program Impacts of Any Funding 

Reductions 

Please explain the programmatic 

effects of a reduction (to your current 

funding amount) on significant 

activities of your response program. 

Specifically, at what amount (e.g., 

percentage of your current funding 

level) would your response program 

experience core programmatic impacts 

such as a reduction in staff, a decrease 

in oversight activities, or other impacts 

to the environment and health of the 

communities the program serves, etc.? 

An EPA Region may require that this 

information be submitted as part of the 

request for funding in order to fully 

understand the individual program 

impacts associated with decreased 

funding. These impacts will be 

considered as part of the decision for 

the final allocation. 


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Funding use FY15 

awarded 

FY16 

requested 

Summary of intended use 

(EXAMPLE USES) 

Establish or enhance the four elements: 

1. Timely survey and inventory of 

brownfields sites; 

$XX,XXX $XX,XXX 1. Examples: 

• inventory and prioritize brownfields sites. 

• institutional control (IC)/engineering control (EC) tracking. 

2. Oversight and enforcement authorities or 

other mechanisms; 

2. Examples: 

• develop/enhance ordinances, regulations, procedures for 

response programs. 

3. Mechanisms and resources to provide 

meaningful opportunities for public participation; 

3. Examples: 

• develop a community involvement process. 

• conduct community outreach. 

• issue public notices of site activities. 

• develop a process to seek public input from local communities, especially potential environmental justice communities, communities with a health risk related to exposure to hazardous waste or other public health concerns, 

economically disadvantaged or remote areas, and communities with limited experience working with government 

agencies to prioritize sites to be addressed. 

4. Mechanisms or approval of a cleanup 

plan and verification and certification that 

cleanup is complete. 

4. Examples: 

• Develop/update cleanup standards. 

• review cleanup plans and verify completed actions. 

Establish and maintain the public record ............. $XX,XXX $XX,XXX • maintain public record. 

• create web site for public record. 

• disseminate public information on how to access the public 

record. 

Enhance the response program ........................... $XX,XXX $XX,XXX • provide oversight of site assessments and cleanups. 

• attend training and conferences on brownfields cleanup technologies & other brownfields topics. 

• update and enhance program management activities. 

• negotiate/oversee contracts for response programs. 

• enhance program management & tracking systems. 

Site-specific activities (amount requested should 

be incidental to the workplan, see Section 

VI.D for more information on what activities 

should be considered when calculating site 

specific activities).

$XX,XXX $XX,XXX • perform site assessments and cleanups. 

• develop QAPPs. 

• establish eligibility of target sites. 

• prepare Property Profile Forms/input data into ACRES database for these sites. 

Environmental insurance ...................................... $XX,XXX $XX,XXX • review potential uses of environmental insurance. 

• manage an insurance risk pool. 

Revolving loan fund .............................................. $XX,XXX $XX,XXX • create a cleanup revolving loan fund. 

Total funding ................................................. $XXX,XXX $XXX,XXX Performance Partnership Grant? Yes b No b. 

X. Terms and Reporting 

Cooperative agreements for state and 

tribal response programs will include 

programmatic and administrative terms 

and conditions. These terms and 

conditions will describe EPA’s 

substantial involvement including 

technical assistance and collaboration 

on program development and sitespecific activities. Each of the 

subsections below summarizes the basic 

terms and conditions, and related 

reporting that will be required if a 

cooperative agreement with EPA is 

awarded. 

A. Progress Reports 

In accordance with 2 CFR 200.328 

and any EPA specific regulations, state 

and tribes must provide progress reports 

as provided in the terms and conditions 

of the cooperative agreement negotiated 

with EPA regional offices. State and 

tribal costs for complying with reporting 

requirements are an eligible expense 

under the section 128(a) cooperative 

agreement. As a minimum, state or 

tribal progress reports must include 

both a narrative discussion and 

performance data relating to the state’s 

or tribe’s accomplishments and 

environmental outputs associated with 

the approved budget and workplan. 

Reports should also provide an 

accounting of section 128(a) funding. If 

applicable, the state or tribe must 

include information on activities related 

to establishing or enhancing the four 

elements of the state’s or tribe’s 

response program. All recipients must 

provide information related to 

establishing or, if already established, 

maintaining the public record. 

Depending upon the activities included 

in the state’s or tribe’s work plan, an 

EPA regional office may request that a 

progress report include: 

1. Reporting interim and final 

progress reports. Reports must 

prominently display the following three 

relevant Essential Elements as reflected 

in the current EPA strategic plan: 

Strategic Plan Goal 3: Cleaning Up 

Communities and Advancing 

Sustainable Development, Strategic Plan 

Objective 3.1: Promote Sustainable and 

Livable Communities, and Work plan 

Commitments and Timeframes. EPA’s 

strategic plan can be found on the 

internet at http://www.epa.gov/ 

planandbudget/strategicplan.html. 

2. Reporting for Non-MOA states and 

tribes. All recipients without a VRP 

MOA must report activities related to 

establishing or enhancing the four 

elements of the state’s or tribe’s 


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response program. For each element 

state/tribes must report how they are 

maintaining the element or how they are 

taking reasonable steps to establish or 

enhance the element as negotiated in 

individual state/tribal work plans. For 

example, pursuant to CERCLA section 

128(a)(2)(B), reports on the oversight 

and enforcement authorities/ 

mechanisms element may include: 

• A narrative description and copies 

of applicable documents developed or 

under development to enable the 

response program to conduct 

enforcement and oversight at sites. For 

example: 

Æ Legal authorities and mechanisms 

(e.g., statutes, regulations, orders, 

agreements); and 

Æ policies and procedures to 

implement legal authorities; and other 

mechanisms; 

• a description of the resources and 

staff allocated/to be allocated to the 

response program to conduct oversight 

and enforcement at sites as a result of 

the cooperative agreement; 

• a narrative description of how these 

authorities or other mechanisms, and 

resources, are adequate to ensure that: 

Æ A response action will protect 

human health and the environment; and 

be conducted in accordance with 

applicable federal and state law; and if 

the person conducting the response 

action fails to complete the necessary 

response activities, including operation 

and maintenance or long-term 

monitoring activities, the necessary 

response activities are completed; and 

• a narrative description and copy of 

appropriate documents demonstrating 

the exercise of oversight and 

enforcement authorities by the response 

program at a brownfields site. 

3. Reporting for site-specific 

assessment or cleanup activities. 

Recipients with work plans that include 

funding for brownfields site assessment 

or cleanup must input information 

required by the OMB-approved Property 

Profile Form into the ACRES database 

for each site assessment and cleanup. In 

addition, recipients must report how 

they provide the affected community 

with prior notice and opportunity for 

meaningful participation as per 

CERCLA section 128(a)(2)(C)(ii), on 

proposed cleanup plans and site 

activities. For example, EPA strongly 

encourages states and tribes to seek 

public input regarding the priority of 

sites to be addressed and to solicit input 

from local communities, especially 

potential environmental justice 

communities, communities with a 

health risk related to exposure to 

hazardous waste or other public health 

concerns, economically disadvantaged 

or remote communities, and 

communities with limited experience 

working with government agencies. 

4. Reporting for other site-specific 

activities. Recipients with work plans 

that include funding for other sitespecific related activities must include a 

description of the site-specific activities 

and the number of sites at which the 

activity was conducted. For example: 

• Number and frequency of oversight 

audits of licensed site professional 

certified cleanups; 

• number and frequency of state/ 

tribal oversight audits conducted; 

• number of sites where staff 

conducted audits, provided technical 

assistance, or conducted other oversight 

activities; and 

• number of staff conducting 

oversight audits, providing technical 

assistance, or conducting other 

oversight activities. 

5. Reporting required when using 

funding for an RLF. Recipients with 

work plans that include funding for 

revolving loan fund (RLF) must include 

the information required by the terms 

and conditions for progress reporting 

under CERCLA section 104(k)(3) RLF 

cooperative agreements. 

6. Reporting environmental insurance. 

Recipients with work plans that include 

funding for environmental insurance 

must report: 

• Number and description of 

insurance policies purchased (e.g., type 

of coverage provided; dollar limits of 

coverage; any buffers or deductibles; 

category and identity of insured 

persons; premium; first dollar or 

umbrella; site specific or blanket; 

occurrence or claims made, etc.); 

• the number of sites covered by the 

insurance; 

• the amount of funds spent on 

environmental insurance (e.g., amount 

dedicated to insurance program, or to 

insurance premiums); and 

• the amount of claims paid by 

insurers to policy holders. 

The regional offices may also request 

that information be added to the 

progress reports, as appropriate, to 

properly document activities described 

by the cooperative agreement work plan. 

EPA regions may allow states or tribes 

to provide performance data in 

appropriate electronic format. 

The regional offices will forward 

progress reports to EPA Headquarters, if 

requested. This information may be 

used to develop national reports on the 

outcomes of CERCLA section 128(a) 

funding to states and tribes. 

B. Reporting of Program Activity Levels 

States and tribes must report, by 

January 31, 2016, a summary of the 

previous federal fiscal year’s work 

(October 1, 2014 through September 30, 

2015). The following information must 

be submitted to your regional project 

officer: 

• Environmental programs where 

CERCLA section 128(a) funds are used 

to support capacity building (general 

program support, non-site-specific 

work). Indicate as appropriate from the 

following: 

lBrownfields 

lUnderground Storage Tanks/Leaking 

Underground Storage Tanks 

lFederal Facilities 

lSolid Waste 

lSuperfund 

lHazardous Waste Facilities 

lVCP (Voluntary Cleanup Program, 

Independent Cleanup Program, etc.) 

lOtherllll; 

• number of properties (or sites) 

enrolled in a response program during 

FY15; 

• number of properties (or sites) 

where documentation indicates that 

cleanup work is complete and all 

required institutional controls (IC’s) are 

in place, or not required; 

• total number of acres associated 

with properties (or sites) in the previous 

bullet; 

• number of properties where 

assistance was provided, but the 

property was not enrolled in the 

response program (OPTIONAL); 

• date that the public record was last 

updated; 

• Estimated total number of 

properties (or sites) in your brownfields 

inventory; 

• Please provide a brief narrative 

explaining how you ensure that cleanup 

remedies (including engineering 

controls and institutional controls) are 

still protective in the future; and 

• Did you develop or revise 

legislation, regulations, codes, guidance 

documents or policies related to 

establishing or enhancing your 

Voluntary Cleanup Program/Response 

Program during FY15? If yes, please 

indicate the type and whether it was 

new or revised. 

EPA may require states/tribes to 

report specific performance measures 

related to the four elements that can be 

aggregated for national reporting to 

Congress. For example: 

1. timely survey and inventory— 

estimated number of brownfields sites 

in the state or on tribal land; 

2. oversight and enforcement 

authorities/mechanisms—number of 

active cleanups and percentage that 

received oversight; percentage of active 

cleanups not in compliance with the 

cleanup workplan and that received 


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communications from recipient 

regarding non-compliance; 

3. public participation—percentage of 

sites in the response program where 

public meetings/notices were conducted 

regarding the cleanup plan and/or other 

site activities; number of site 

assessments requests, and responses to 

such requests; and 

4. cleanup approval/certification 

mechanisms—total number of ‘‘no 

further action’’ letters or total number of 

certificates of completions. 

Note: This reporting requirement may 

include activities not funded with CERCLA 

section 128(a) funding, because such 

information may be helpful to EPA when 

evaluating whether recipients have met or are 

taking reasonable steps to meet the four 

elements of a response program pursuant to 

CERCLA section 128(a)(2). 

C. Reporting of Public Record 

All recipients must report, as 

specified in the terms and conditions of 

their cooperative agreement, and in 

Section VIII.I of this guidance, 

information related to establishing, or if 

already established, maintaining the 

public record, described above. States 

and tribes can refer to an already 

existing public record, e.g., Web site or 

other public database to meet the public 

record requirement. Recipients 

reporting may only be required to 

demonstrate that the public record a) 

exists and is up-to-date, and b) is 

adequate. A public record may include 

the following information: 

A list of sites at which response 

actions have been completed in the past 

year including: 

• date the response action was 

completed; 

• site name; 

• name of owner at time of cleanup, 

if known; 

• location of the site (street address, 

and latitude and longitude); 

• whether an institutional control is 

in place; 

• type of institutional control in place 

(e.g., deed restriction, zoning restriction, 

local ordinance, state registries of 

contaminated property, deed notices, 

advisories, etc.); 

• nature of the contamination at the 

site (e.g., hazardous substances, 

contaminants or pollutants, petroleum 

contamination, etc.); and 

• size of the site in acres. 

A list of sites planned to be addressed 

by the state or tribal response program 

in the coming year including: 

• site name and the name of owner at 

time of cleanup, if known; 

• location of the site (street address, 

and latitude and longitude); 

• to the extent known, whether an 

institutional control is in place; 

• type of the institutional control in 

place (e.g., deed restriction, zoning 

restriction, local ordinance, state 

registries of contaminated property, 

deed notices, advisories, etc.); 

• to the extent known, the nature of 

the contamination at the site (e.g., 

hazardous substances, contaminants, or 

pollutants, petroleum contamination, 

etc.); and 

• size of the site in acres 

D. Award Administration Information 

1. Subaward and Executive 

Compensation Reporting 

Applicants must ensure that they 

have the necessary processes and 

systems in place to comply with the 

subaward and executive total 

compensation reporting requirements 

established under OMB guidance at 2 

CFR Part 170, unless they qualify for an 

exception from the requirements, 

should they be selected for funding. 

2. System for Award Management 

(SAM) and Data Universal Numbering 

System (DUNS) Requirements 

Unless exempt from these 

requirements under OMB guidance at 2 

CFR Part 25 (e.g., individuals), 

applicants must: 

1. Be registered in SAM prior to 

submitting an application or proposal 

under this announcement. SAM 

information can be found at https:// 

www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/. 

2. Maintain an active SAM 

registration with current information at 

all times during which it has an active 

Federal award or an application or 

proposal under consideration by an 

agency, and 

3. Provide its DUNS number in each 

application or proposal it submits to the 

agency. Applicants can receive a DUNS 

number, at no cost, by calling the 

dedicated toll-free DUNS Number 

request line at 1–866–705–5711, or 

visiting the D&B Web site at: http:// 

www.dnb.com. 

If an applicant fails to comply with 

these requirements, it will, should it be 

selected for award, affect their ability to 

receive the award. 

Please note that the CCR has been 

replaced by the System for Award 

Management (SAM). To learn more 

about SAM, go to SAM.gov or https:// 

www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/. 

3. Submitting an Application via 

Grants.gov 

All grant applications for noncompetitive assistance agreements 

awards submitted on or after February 

17, 2015 must be submitted using 

Grants.gov. Below is the information 

that the applicant will use to submit 

their State and Tribal Response Program 

Grant applications via Grants.gov: 

CDFA number: 66.817 

Funding Opportunity Number (FON): 

EPA–CEP–02 

To learn more about the Grants.gov 

submission requirements, go to http:// 

www.epa.gov/ogd/grants_gov

_submission_requirement.htm. 

4. Use of Funds 

An applicant that receives an award 

under this announcement is expected to 

manage assistance agreement funds 

efficiently and effectively, and make 

sufficient progress towards completing 

the project activities described in the 

work-plan in a timely manner. The 

assistance agreement will include terms 

and conditions related to implementing 

this requirement. 

REGIONAL STATE AND TRIBAL BROWNFIELDS CONTACTS

Region State Tribal 

1. CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT .......... James Byrne ...............................................................

5 Post Office Square, Suite 100 (OSRR07–2) ...........

Boston, MA 02109–3912 ............................................

Phone (617) 918–1389 Fax (617) 918–1294 .............

AmyJean McKeown 

5 Post Office Square, Suite 100 (OSRR07–2) 

Boston, MA 02109–3912 

Phone (617) 918–1248 Fax (617) 918–1294 

2. NJ, NY, PR, VI ......................... John Struble ................................................................

290 Broadway, 18th Floor ..........................................

New York, NY 10007–1866 ........................................

Phone (212) 637–4291 Fax (212) 637–3083 .............

Phillip Clappin 

290 Broadway, 18th Floor 

New York, NY 10007–1866 

Phone (212) 637–4431 Fax (212) 637–3083 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
65748 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 207 / Tuesday, October 27, 2015 / Notices 

REGIONAL STATE AND TRIBAL BROWNFIELDS CONTACTS—Continued 

Region State Tribal 

3. DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV ....... Michael Taurino ..........................................................

1650 Arch Street (3HS51) ..........................................

Philadelphia, PA 19103 ..............................................

Phone (215) 814–3371 Fax (215) 814–3274 .............

4. AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, 

TN.

Olga Perry ...................................................................

61 Forsyth Street SW., 10TH FL (9T25) ....................

Atlanta, GA 30303–8960 ............................................

Phone (404) 562–8534 Fax (404) 562–8788 .............

Cindy J. Nolan 

61 Forsyth Street SW., 10TH FL (9T25) 

Atlanta, GA 30303–8960 

Phone (404) 562–8425 Fax (404) 562–8788 

5. IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI ............. Jan Pels ......................................................................

77 West Jackson Boulevard (SB–7J) .........................

Chicago, IL 60604–3507 .............................................

Phone (312) 886–3009 Fax (312) 692–2161 .............

Rosita Clarke-Moreno 

77 West Jackson Boulevard (SB–7J) 

Chicago, IL 60604–3507 

Phone (312) 886–7215 Fax (312) 697–2075 

6. AR, LA, NM, OK, TX ................ Amber Perry ................................................................

1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200 (6SF) ........................

Dallas, TX 75202–2733 ..............................................

Phone (214) 665–3172 Fax (214) 665–6660 .............

Amber Perry 

1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200 (6SF) 

Dallas, TX 75202–2733 

Phone (214) 665–3172 Fax (214) 665–6660 

7. IA, KS, MO, NE ........................ Susan Klein .................................................................

11201 Renner Boulevard (SUPRSTAR) .....................

Lenexa KS 66219 .......................................................

Phone (913) 551–7786 Fax (913) 551–9786 .............

Jennifer Morris 

11201 Renner Boulevard (SUPRSTAR) 

Lenexa KS 66219 

Phone (913) 551–7341 Fax (913) 551–9341 

8. CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY ....... Christina Wilson ..........................................................

1595 Wynkoop Street (EPR–B) ..................................

Denver, CO 80202–1129 ............................................

Phone (303) 312–6706 Fax (303) 312–6065 .............

Barbara Benoy 

1595 Wynkoop Street (8EPR–SA) 

Denver, CO 80202–1129 

Phone (303) 312–6760 Fax (303) 312–6962 

9. AZ, CA, HI, NV, AS, GU, MP ... Eugenia Chow .............................................................

75 Hawthorne St. (SFD–6–1) .....................................

San Francisco, CA 94105 ...........................................

Phone (415) 972–3160 Fax (415) 947–3520 .............

Jose Garcia, Jr. 

600 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1460 

Los Angeles, CA 90017 

Phone (213) 244–1811 Fax (213) 244–1850 

10. AK, ID, OR, WA ..................... Mary K. Goolie ............................................................

222 West 7th Avenue #19 (AOO) ..............................

Anchorage, AK 99513 Phone ((907) 271–3414 .........

Fax ( 907) 271–3424 ..................................................

Mary K. Goolie 

222 West 7th Avenue #19 (AOO) 

Anchorage, AK 99513 Phone ((907) 271–3414 

Fax (907) 271–3424 

XI. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 

51735, October 4, 1993), this action is 

not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ and 

is therefore not subject to review under 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 (76 

FR 3821, January 21, 2011). Because this 

action is not subject to notice and 

comment requirements under the 

Administrative Procedures Act or any 

other statute, it is not subject to the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq.) or Sections 202 and 205 of the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1999 

(UMRA) (Pub. L. 104–4). In addition, 

this action does not significantly or 

uniquely affect small governments. This 

action does not create new binding legal 

requirements that substantially and 

directly affect Tribes under Executive 

Order 13175 (63 FR 67249, November 9, 

2000). This action does not have 

significant Federalism implications 

under Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 

43255, August 10, 1999). Because this 

action has been exempted from review 

under Executive Order 12866, this 

action is not subject to Executive Order 

13211, entitled Actions Concerning 

Regulations That Significantly Affect 

Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use (66 

FR 28355, May 22, 2001) or Executive 

Order 13045, entitled Protection of 

Children from Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks (62 FR 19885, 

April 23, 1997). This action does not 

contain any information collections 

subject to OMB approval under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq., nor does it require 

any special considerations under 

Executive Order 12898, entitled Federal 

Actions to Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations (59 FR 7629, 

February 16, 1994). This action does not 

involve technical standards; thus, the 

requirements of Section 12(d) of the 

National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 

272 note) do not apply. The 

Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 

et seq., generally provides that before 

certain actions may take effect, the 

agency promulgating the action must 

submit a report, which includes a copy 

of the action, to each House of the 

Congress and to the Comptroller General 

of the United States. Because this final 

action does not contain legally binding 

requirements, it is not subject to the 

Congressional Review Act. 

Dated: October 15, 2015. 

David R. Lloyd, 

Director, Office of Brownfields and Land 

Revitalization, Office of Solid Waste and 

Emergency Response. 

[FR Doc. 2015–27374 Filed 10–26–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2011–0443; FRL 9935–83– 

OEI] 

Information Collection Request 

Submitted to OMB for Review and 

Approval; Comment Request; Public 

Water System Supervision Program 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted 

an Information Collection Request (ICR) 

for the Public Water System Supervision 

Program (EPA ICR No. 0270.46, OMB 

Control No. 2040–0090) to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and approval in accordance with 

the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA; 44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This is a proposed 

extension of the ICR, which is currently 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES